13 injured in Baldwin Park tour bus crash

Firefighters help as a tour bus is towed out of a drainage ditch after the bus went off the shoulder of an Interstate 10 off-ramp in Baldwin Park, Calif. on Monday Dec. 23, 2013. The tour bus heading back from a Southern California casino crashed on a freeway east of Los Angeles early Monday, injuring 13 people, authorities said. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

BALDWIN PARK >> Thirteen passengers were injured after a tour bus getting off the westbound 10 Freeway early Monday hit a ditch, a fence and a light pole. The bus ended up slightly tilted on its right side.

The 4:30 a.m. crash shut down the Baldwin Park Boulevard off-ramp for an estimated four hours.

California Highway Patrol Officer Rodrigo Jimenez said preliminary reports indicate the bus was traveling at an unsafe speed as it exited the off-ramp. He didn’t know the exact speed it was traveling.

“(The driver) failed to negotiate the curve due to unsafe speed,” Jimenez said.

The bus veered to the right leaving the off-ramp, struck a storm ditch, a chain-link fence and a light post which separate a private parking lot from the off-ramp, according to Jimenez.

The driver, 56-year-old Zhi Guang Li of El Monte, wasn’t injured. But 11 passengers sustained minor injuries and two passengers suffered moderate injuries. They were taken to several local hospitals.

CHP didn’t have details on the specific type of injuries and the passengers’ current medical condition.

The bus is from Travel Tours Americas International in Hacienda Heights. CHP officials said the bus was returning from a trip to Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio and was heading to Eagle Rock.

Jimenez said the bus was carrying 37 passengers. Most of the passengers were Hispanic and reside in communities that include Pacoima, Panorama City, North Hills, Van Nuys, Glendale and Eagle Rock, he added.

The CHP is investigating the crash. Los Angeles County Firefighters responded to help the injured.

Jimenez said the remaining passengers were transported to their destination by a separate bus.

No arrests have been made.

Any witnesses are asked to call Officer C. Rodriguez at the CHP/Baldwin Park area office at 626-338-1164.